TechnoServe, Maria Ribeiro productions and MozaCajú present: "How to grow and process cashew nuts," a film about cashew made possible through the support of EMAJU at the Maziotela plantation in Nampula, Mozambique.

Cashew farming communities in northern Mozambique have been experiencing firsthand the important contributions that women can make when they are empowered to make a difference.

Since 2014, MozaCajú, a USDA-funded project that supports production, processing, and marketing of cashew along the entire value chain, has been working to support female cashew farmers to become more actively involved in agricultural activities and livelihoods. MozaCajú recognizes that investments in women have big impacts on the economic and social well-being of the household and community and has made deliberate efforts to reach out to women to include them in various roles, most especially as farmer promotion agents.

To date, these female farmer promotion agents have contributed to the increase in cashew nut yields and incomes by helping to teach farmers new production techniques thereby helping to increase the sustainability of the cashew industry for years to come.

Throughout January to the end of the rainy season in February and March, Mozambican cashew farmers like Mariamo Agy and her husband Carlos Muekela are busy planting new cashew trees.

Since 2014, MozaCajú has been working with cashew farmers to promote planting of new cashew trees through farmer trainings on improved planting techniques and provision of cashew seedlings and necessary tools for planting.

Mariamo is a MozaCajú nursery owner who has benefited from this nursery assistance. Last year, she produced around 5,000 seedlings, of which 3,804 seedlings successfully germinated and were planted. She sold these seedlings for a total income of MZN 30,460, which is close to $550 USD, a huge sum in rural Mozambique. With this income, she and her husband constructed a new home with a corrugated tin roof, and also installed solar panels to provide electricity during the night.

Today there are 85 MozaCajú-supported cashew nurseries that have distributed over 400,000 seedlings in local communities. MozaCajú continues to provide support and technical assistance so that the nurseries continue to thrive for years to come, thus helping farmers plant the seeds for a better future.

The President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, inaugurated a cashew processing plant near the city of Nampula mid-morning of Friday, December 9th.

According to the Chief of State, this project responds to one of the objectives of the cashew master plan that calls for increasing the capacity and processing of the cashew in the country.

"This factory brings solutions to the problems but also brings new challenges for cashew producers. It puts more pressure on the cashew sector, related to the requirement of raising the levels of its production," said the President.

The factory has been in operation since the second quarter of this year and employs around 650 workers, with about 90 percent of them women. Factory owners say it is operating at 25 percent of its capacity, which is about 40,000 tonnes per year.

The current cashew marketing year in Mozambique could provide a tax revenue of US$33 million resulting from the export of 110,000 tonnes of raw nuts, said the president of the Association of Cashew Manufacturers (Aicaju).

Mohamed Yunus, who made an upward revision of cashew production in this campaign from 120,000 thousand tonnes expected by government entities to 150,000 tonnes, said that of this amount 40,000 tonnes would remain in Mozambique to supply the industrial units in operation.

The commercialization of cashew nuts in Mozambique in the current 2016/2017 harvest season is expected to reach 120,000 tonnes compared to the 100,000 registered tons in the previous harvest season, said the director of INCAJU, the National Institute of Cashew Development.

Ilídio Bande, who spoke in the Nampula district during the official start of the 2016/2017 commercialization year, said that there are good indicators in all the cashew-producing provinces, so it is expected that the goal will be achieved.

The start of the cashew nut commercialization campaign is the culmination of a process of preparation involving farmers, service providers, government entities and other stakeholders so that the whole process runs smoothly, according to Maputo-based newspaper Notícias.

The provincial governor of Nampula, Victor Borges, recalled that the province is the largest producer of cashew nuts in Mozambique and called on producers to address the problems affecting cashew trees, especially pests and uncontrolled fires. (Macauhub)

According to an article on Bloomberg, the world's sales for cashew nuts are growing faster than any other nut, even as the production in some regions slows.

"The global popularity of the kidney-shaped nut has been growing faster than any other tree nut -- even almonds. Demand jumped 53 percent since 2010 and outpaced production in at least four of the past seven years, industry data show. Now the worst drought in a century for Vietnam, the largest exporter, is raising concern that supplies will be even tighter in a market valued at $5.2 billion."

Mida Juma, MozaCajú’s head chef, has grown up cooking with cashew nuts. Born and raised on Ilha de Moçambique, a historic island in the northern province of Nampula, Mida loves cooking traditional dishes as well as experimenting to discover fun, new ways to add cashew to her diet.

As she explained to community members at a MozaCajú-sponsored cooking event held earlier this month on Ilha de Moçambique, cashews can be incorporated into a wide range of sweet and savory dishes from curries to cookies to samosas. The cooking event was organized in order to teach community members new recipes that could be prepared for sale in the local market, as well as nutritional recipes that could boost health at home.

The event coincided with a visit by representatives from Caro Nut, a nut roaster and wholesaler that supplies cashew products to Costco, a major U.S. retailer. As consumers in Mozambique and around the world discover the joys of snacking and cooking with cashews, market demand for these protein-rich nuts is growing.

In an interview in The Nation, a Nigerian newspaper, Dr. Babafemi Oyewole the Managing Director/CEO of the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) says that that investment in cashew farming can help countries such as Nigeria diversify from a mono product economy. Cashew, he explains, has high prospects of attracting foreign direct investments if the right things are done.

According to Corrina Hutchings, market analyst at Mintec, "The cashew nut is increasing in popularity as research continues to show the health benefits for consuming them – as long as they are not salted or honey roasted! Raw cashews will not only improve the taste of your curries or stir-fries, but will add extra protein and rich nutrients, which are good for your heart, eyes and skin. Compared with other nuts, cashews, like almonds, have low calories per nut. However, before you rush out to stock up, bear in mind cashews are still relatively high in calories compared with other food and you will only need a few. The recent increase in prices, which are up 23% since the start of the year, may also put you off."

Cashew farmers in Mozambique work hard all year to secure a good harvest from their cashew trees. Perhaps even more important than collecting the harvest, though, is the process of selling the harvest on the market, which is referred to as the time of commercialization.

For cashew farmers this is an extremely important time because it is when they can finally reap the benefits from cultivating cashew – they may work hard all the way to the harvest season, but if they do not succeed at commercialization then they will not earn a good profit. As most cashew producing communities are in rural areas, these farmers are often disconnected to markets and information. They are at a particular disadvantage as they often have little information about the price of their product on the market, which is an important determinant of a good profit after volume of yields.

Since 2014, MozaCajú has been training cashew farmers on commercialization techniques through sessions on My Cashew Business, in order to fill the gap in knowledge and information that has prevented them from maximizing their profits. Through these trainings, cashew farmers in Mozambique have been empowered by knowledge and information, which have not only enabled them to maximize their profits for cashew, but have helped them diversify livelihoods, strengthen their own resilience and expand their own hopes for the future.

To read the full MozaCajú version of the story click here, or to see TechnoServe's abbreviated version, click here.

Alda Filomena André, a cashew farmer from the village of 3 de Fevereiro in Nangade district, enjoys showing off her young, green cashew nuts that have begun to emerge on many of her cashew trees. Alda and her husband have worked hard throughout the year to get to this point and are now busy preparing for the harvest.

As one of the 23,000 farmers participating in the MozaCajú project, they have spent the last few months pruning and cleaning their cashew trees, i.e. eliminating branches that are dry, diseased or no longer productive. Currently they are in the process of spraying to protect the trees from pests and disease. Their goal is to have a harvest even more plentiful than the last and they are hopeful that this year it will happen.

This manual, which acts as the foundation for each of the various MozaCajú trainings that are given to cashew producers, details the actions required at various stages of production, including planting, cleaning and pruning, chemical control of pests and disease, harvest and post-harvest, and commercialization.

For more details or to download the manual (in Portuguese), please click here.

Under the sprawling branches of a large cashew tree, Angelo Levi, MozaCajú production lead, gazes at a group of farmers who have gathered to attend a training on the chemical treatment of cashew trees.

According to Levi, the chemical treatment training is one of the most important trainings of the crop season. The correct application of chemical treatment helps to ward off disease and pests and could double cashew production, thus significantly impacting the livelihoods of these smallholder cashew farmers.

MozaCajú teaches both the technical, agronomic approach for spraying as well as the business implications of investing in spraying, for example maximizing return on investment through selection of productive trees. Additionally, MozaCajú facilitates access to chemicals and machines for these farmers so that they are able to continue to produce cashew at increased levels in the future.

Carlos Lássimo (right) teaches his son Adamo (left) how to graft seedlings

July 2016

In the small village of Cataputa in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, Carlos Lássimo grafts cashew seedlings with his 10-year-old son, Adamo. Just as Lássimo learned about cashew production from his father, he is teaching his son traditional farming knowledge, which is typically passed on from generation to generation. However, Lássimo is sharing more than traditional knowledge with his son. He is also sharing new and expanded knowledge that he has gained through his work with MozaCajú as a promoter and seedling producer.

One day, Lássimo hopes to pay for agronomy school for Adamo, who wants to become an agronomist and eventually take over the production of the family’s cashew trees and seedlings. In the Lássimo family, the cashew apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Mussa Assane Chionda is a cashew producer from Namatil village, Mueda disctict, in Cabo Delgado Province. Last season, he and his neighbors produced and aggregated quantity of 120 tons of cashew with MozaCajú assistance. When it was time to sell, he sent an SMS to the CommCare platform.

Abudo Kunoa and Calisto Ingero are cashew producers in Mucojo, a village in the District of Macomia. Both have complained that cashew crops normally succumb to the Oidium disease, a fungus that causes the leaves to crinkle and become minimally functional. It attacks flowers and young fruits making them look burnt or wrinkled. The leaves are not able to support the development of quality fruits.